by P F Walsh
Panic ensued on Trether after the Oblate Corps of Monitors detected the huge tachyon burst from the location of an abandoned Treth outpost. It had been placed in a permanent quarantine for containing a deadly disease more than a hundred annuals ago. The research in progress was not deemed critical and was duplicated elsewhere. The opportunity to shroud research on sentient ships was highly desired, and prompted a quick decision to quarantine indefinitely. All legal and service connections were severed. In the serene environ of the Trether monitoring center, there were very rarely any surprises. Events were always logical and understood. To its best belief, Trether was the only civilization in their area of the galaxy that could fold space and move instantly about the cosmos. The typical burst, from a ship folding space, was a magnitude smaller than the one they received. The power requirements alone were challenging, and once jumped to a new location, their ship had to recharge for another jump. A burst of this size had never been detected before. The oblate checked and rechecked his instruments and when all cross checks certified the burst was from the location of the outpost, he ran to the Doyen immediately. The Doyen looked over the report and said,
“How can this be? Do you realize the size of the ship that must have done this? It is beyond any known vessel.” He demanded.
“Yes, Doyen, this is why I have come to you. This must be reported to the Masters. That is the rule.”
“Of course, I know the rule. Leave this with me, I will go now and seek a meeting.”
The Chamber of the Masters was in their usual lunar meeting hearing technical reports of advancements. Their arcane discussions were beyond most of the population of Trether and could be compared to a scientific symposium except, it happened every lunar. Many Masters were bored during the reports of disciplines not their own. Still, there were links among all sciences, and often one affected the other. The Doyen stood on the periphery as a Master droned on regarding black hole penetration speculations. Once he was done and seated, the Doyen approached the meeting Warden and handed him the report. He read it carefully and then said,
“Bring this to the Comitatus and have them dispatch a scout to investigate immediately.” The Doyen bowed and retreated from the Chamber.
A few rotations later, a scout ship had arrived at the site and sent a drone back that the outpost was gone. No trace of anything was found to indicate explosion or destruction. A whole small planet was just gone.
Several weeks had passed. The Discovery and its fleet were still parked at Caerus.
“Artie, how long will it take to finish it?” Sean asked.
“I estimate almost a year for the whole thing depending on how many workers we can recruit and outfit. We plan on doing at least a module per month, but production is increasing as we streamline our manufacturing.” They were discussing the completion of an orbital docking station above Caerus to accommodate ship docking and replenishments. The plan was for a modest twelve docks.
“Well, so far, it looks really good and it can be expanded.” Sean said. The plan was well thought out. Each docking station was a pie-piece module to be built and then bolted to another module ultimately creating a donut shaped facility in a station-keeping location above Caerus. The Center section would house services, lodging, and warehouse. That would be the last section to be built and would be built on the site. The modules were to be built on Caerus and lifted up with industrial grade lift engines.
Chapter Twenty-One
Book Three
The stars over Caerus were augmented for a long time by the sparkles of welding torches working on the Orbital Station. At times it was difficult for a person down on Caerus to tell the difference. Once assembled enough for first use, the ships to dock in the newly assembled docking station were the Discovery and a few ships from Earth. Dedicated shuttles moved the travelers down to Caerus for the grueling entry inspection which would be done on the docking station later, when it was built out for staff offices. Artie was already discussing a tether shuttle and was working with Central on its engineering.
The population on Caerus had grown substantially and now had an administrative staff to implement and enforce the new Constitutional Ownership code, a mélange of both U.S. and British laws and rules with the attending enforcement and court system to sort out infringements and levy retribution to offenders. In cases of indeterminate ability by the court, the judges would meet in a conference, and send a recommended decision up to Sean for his imprimatur or rejection. Thus far, none had come to him and he was grateful.
Two retired judges sat for court hearings. One was American and the other British. There were few cases, and the judges spent most of their time reading settled law cases, or just plain fiction. When an offender was scheduled to appear before the court. The offender always appeared before a judge from a country not his own. In the few cases heard so far, the penalties had all been banishment and monetary fines, though the law did provide for adjudication of more serious crimes like homicide and espionage.
Interment agreements were struck with both the United States and Britain for convicted offenders of more serious crimes. A representative Council was planned for, but not until Caerus had been settled both socially and legally under the Constitutional rules that were expected to be adjusted from time to time. Sean was firm on that point and he would call for the election for the Council Seats when he felt Caerus was mature enough. The early days were chaotic in some ways, as Caerus Station matured. By now, all Earth’s nations had come to the acceptance that Caerus was independent and would stay that way. The UN was ignored.
Medical advancements were announced through the AMA and available for every country that recognized Caerus as an independent State and agreed to accept diplomatic relations with it. Scientific accomplishments were much more complicated and had to be analyzed for their military potential both positive and negative. Despite that, discoveries were finding their way into chip processors and retail products.
Under the guidance of Allister and Central, a full line of anti-spy products began to appear from Caerus to be snapped up by Western nations. China had not yet rebuilt their internet spy facility but had a fledgling cadre of hackers beginning to pound on firewalls again. This was effectively detected and shunned by the Caerus firewall routers that were in huge demand. The Caerus processors were sleeved and layered in anti-x-ray lead and were self-destructing if opened. All manufacturing was done in the U.S. Esoteric discoveries like these that had military value were parceled out carefully to friendly nations or kept under classified status on Caerus. Caerus was coming into its own.
“Wha..., what happened? Where am I?” Wallace Henning Earth Ambassador to Hhearn was confused and drugged, he couldn’t focus his eyes well and felt terrible.
“It’s ok Wally!” A voice nearby said, “You had a massive heart attack and there was surgery done. The doctors said you’re going to be fine and make a full recovery. I’m so glad I was there to call for help.”
“Maejel?” He asked.
“Yes, I’m right here.”
“I don’t remember what happened.”
“We were talking about the next music festival and suddenly you just keeled over.” She said. “The nurse is going to be back in just a minute or so. They want to get you up for a bit. They told me early activity is essential to help reduce surgical complications, such as pneumonia and blood clots in your legs.” She said.
“Sounds like fun.” Wally groaned.
“We’re all glad you’re still with us. If I had not been there and you were alone, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The Gods are looking out for you Wally.” She said with a smile.
“Ooops, here they come. I’ll be back later.” She said as a nurse and two aids came into the room with a wheeled walker.
A little over a week later, Wally was discharged from the hospital to begin weeks of physical therapy and rest. A live-in attendant was hired to handle household chores and help Wally. He made good progress and was diligent about the
prescribed thirty-six sessions of physical therapy and exercise. An unexpected and appreciated byproduct was the loss of weight Wally had been trying to get rid of for years. Six weeks of reduced abilities slipped away, and Wally was feeling very good again, the live-in aid was no longer needed. He now had more energy than before; his heart was getting the blood flow it needed. Wally had been watching the latest news from Earth each day as he recuperated and had made some mental notes along with some big decisions. He sat down at his laptop and began composing a short note to include with the weekly drone to Earth. Maejel had visited him regularly and brought him dispatches and diplomatic pouches so he could stay in touch with the demands of his post. Wally was getting back on his feet with a reduced schedule, mostly social, was his new commitment. Thoughts of retiring were forefront. The only question was, where?
Maejel was in the huge meeting room in the Attaché’s new offices on Hhearn. She had requisitioned a trainer be sent to Hhearn under the military assistance program guidelines. She watched as the trainer took his student through the moves slowly, and then faster and faster until the efforts were just a visual whirl of movement. After an hour and a half, they stopped, bowed to each other, and the student walked over to Maejel,
“Sister, this warrior is a genius of movement, I have learned so much on how to handle this sword. There is a requirement for strength but the focus is on technique. The other warriors on Zakar know nothing of this and all would fall to the sharp edge of my sword. I am again in your life debt.” Kiz-bel the Younger said as he bowed before her. Maejel smiled and said,
“Kiz-bel, your wisdom grows by the day. You will be a great leader someday. I am sure.” She said with a short bow. Kiz-bel surrendered his training sword to the trainer, gave thanks to him, and left the room. The instructor came over to her bowed and said,
“He is a fine student. He has much to learn but he makes excellent progress.” The Japanese sword instructor said, and continued,
“I have begun to watch you Maejel-san. Your facial muscles tell me you know when Kiz-bal-san is making a bad move.” He suddenly backed up; threw the practice sword to her and yelled,
“Defend yourself!” He came at her with his practice sword raised to strike. She parried the attack, and moved back to set her feet, he came again and she parried, attempting to strike him back, he parried. This went on for an hour until she was covered with sweat and beginning to become angry. When the instructor saw this, he stopped the match.
“You have done very, very well. But anger will destroy your mind and allow your adversary to strike you down. We will stop for today, but wear better shoes next time when I am done with Kiz-bel, we will practice. You have the skills; they only need to be awakened. Most unusual.“ And then, he repeated himself as he nodded and considered her, “Most unusual.”
He bowed, took the two practice swords and quietly left as she wiped the sweat from her brow and stood there breathing heavily and wondering,
“Where did all that all come from? I could feel the excitement and anticipate some of his moves. Is this what it means to be a Zakarian Warrior’s Blood Sister?”
“Miss Griggs?” The voice asked on the telephone.
“Yes, who is this?” Millie Griggs asked wondering who had her cell number.
“This is Jeremy, it appears I have already been forgotten.”
”Jeremy, I assure you, you have not been totally forgotten, you call so seldom it’s really quite a challenge to recall all the voices I hear.” She said teasingly.
“Yes, I labor under that daily from Parliament, and even the press. See here, I would like you to call me back on a secure phone as soon as you can. There’s a bit of a muddle that needs your help to sort. Can you do that?” Jeremy Saunders, the Prime Minister of Britain, asked.
“Of course, I will leave now and get to one. Should be a bit though, traffic is ugly here. There’s a daily mob dash to the pubs about this time.” She said.
“We’re working late, I will be here for quite a while, lots to do. Until then, cheers.” And he rang off as Millie wondered what was up now? She thought about all the things that were going on in the news but nothing seemed to hook itself to a call from Jeremy. She lifted up her cell phone and called Eddie.
“Eddie, I need to get to a secure phone.” She said knowing he would recognize her voice.
“Business or pleasure?” He asked.
“Business.” She said.
“Come to the White House, I’ll get you a room. Are you coming now?” He asked.
“Yes, I’m leaving now.” She answered.
“Don’t use a cab. I’ll send a car.” He said and hung up. She knew the first thing he would do is to inform the President, who will want to know what is going on. She didn’t know, of course, but a call from the Prime Minister asking for help was a matter of State and everyone here would want to know.
She took a few minutes and got herself ready to go out and dressed for the White House in neat, but elegant, business attire. She went downstairs to her apartment foyer and watched out the glass door for the car. It took just ten minutes for the sleek black sedan to roll up in front. The Secret Service Agent she had as a guard for weeks, came to the door and escorted her to the car. In another fifteen minutes they were at the White House as Eddie came out to bring her inside.
“What’s going on?” He asked.
“I got a call from the British Prime Minister asking me to call him back on a secure telephone. He didn’t say what it was all about. I have no idea yet.” She said as he escorted her to the office section of the White House and a small office for occasional use. He picked up the telephone and said,
“Secure call to the British Prime Minister.” She waited while the White House switchboard connected to 10 Downing Street and passed the information that the White House was calling for the Prime Minister. An Aid answered and set up the secure link, the light on the phone went on indicating ‘secure’ and encrypted. Eddie handed the phone to Millie.
“Hello?” She said.
“Please stand by for the Prime Minister.” A voice said at the other end. Millie stood there waiting for a few minutes and then Jeremy came on the line,
“Ms. Griggs, thank you for calling back.” He said.
“It’s Ms. Griggs now, is it? She chided.
“Touché!” He said and chuckled.
“Millie, we have a bit of a muddle here and it seems you are the person who can move it along.” He said as the President and John Lewis the Secretary of State came into the room.
“Jeremy, I have the President and the Secretary of State here would you like to be on speakerphone?” She asked.
“Splendid, yes, please do.” He said. Eddie switched on the speakerphone feature. They all exchanged greetings and the Prime Minister began,
“We have taken in a Russian KGB type operative who wants asylum. It appears they have a wealth of information to share. They want asylum in the U.S. With the minimal information they shared with us that we could verify, we believe, at this end, it should be offered. The asylum seeker is a woman. She mentioned there’s a plan to seize Caerus using one of your space freighters, and said she will only deal with Millie. She says she won’t trust anyone else to escort her. She says she knows you were instrumental in dealing with the Chinese and shutting down a major threat to Taiwan. Did you do that Millie?” He asked while everyone in the room was looking at each other. The President nodded to Millie.
“Well, I had a small bit.” She said.
“Why am I not surprised?” He said with a chuckle, and continued,
“The ball is now in your court ladies and gentlemen. Ring me up tomorrow and tell me what you would like to do. We’ll expect some sharing of course, with anything you learn as it affects us here. Questions anyone?” He asked.
“Yes,” The President asked, “Who is she?”
“She claims she is Svetlana Kuznetsov. She says she’s an acquaintance of Secretary Lewis.” The Prime Minister said.
&nb
sp; “Yes, I’ve met her,” Secretary Lewis said, “she tried to kill me.”
“Didn’t expect that one! Do let me know what you decide, it’s a bit of a hot issue right now inside the halls, dark figures are circling, you understand?” He said.
“Yes, Prime Minister, we do, and we will call you shortly with a decision and instructions.” Said the President. They ended the call and the President said,
“Millie do you have a ‘go bag’?
“What is a ‘go bag’?” She asked.
“It’s a ready-packed bag of overnight needs for instant travel.”
“No, but I can put one together in minutes.” She answered.
“Good, we’ll rustle up a plane for you to leave for London as soon as you can get packed. While you’re on your way, we will work out the details with London.” He continued,
“Eddie, send your lady agent with her. Contact the FBI team on asylum seekers. Advise them we have a Russian defector coming in from the UK and we have to move fast. Tell them we need a Gulfstream and four or five Agents, but one of them should also be a woman. We are providing the requested civilian escort and a Secret Service Agent. Immediate departure. Make sure Millie has some kind of defense weapon with her, just in case.” He paused and looked at everyone,